Yen Soars On G7 Comment; Dow Nears Record

The yen rallied on Tuesday, reversing the previous day's late selloff against the dollar and euro after an official with the Group of Seven said it is worried about excess moves in the Japanese currency.

The yen rallied on Tuesday, reversing the previous day's late selloff against the dollar and euro after an official with the Group of Seven said it is worried about excess moves in the Japanese currency.

World stock markets edged higher and the Dow Industrials climbed within striking distance of an all-time high as investors looked ahead to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.

The G7, in a statement, urged countries to refrain from competitive devaluations, saying it remained committed to "market-determined" exchange rates. This was in reaction to weeks of concern that the new Japanese government's monetary easing policy, which has also weakened the yen, could trigger far-reaching currency wars.

However, the market interpreted the statement as a sign that the G7 supported Japan's moves, prompting an official from a G7 nation to say later that the group "is concerned about unilateral guidance on the yen."

The comments - meant to clarify the G7 statement - sparked a rally in the yen against the dollar and euro.

"Having asserted on Sunday evening that G20 would seek to 'calm' markets over talk of currency wars, the first ad-hoc attempt to do so this morning has been a dismal failure," said Richard Gilhooly, analyst at TD Securities in New York. "Rather than calm the markets, the poorly communicated statement has significantly raised volatility and now we have to wait to see the actual outcome of G20 on the weekend."

The dollar was down 0.9 percent against the yen at 93.50, having risen to 94.42 yen on Monday, according to Reuters data, the highest since May, 2010.

The euro fell 0.5 percent to 125.77 yen, after a 2 percent rally on Monday. <FRX/>

The G7 must go into this weekend's G20 meetings forcefully pressing major emerging economies to adopt flexible foreign exchange rates, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said on Tuesday.

Tokyo is likely to come under serious pressure when G20 finance ministers and central bankers meet in Moscow at the end of the week, not least because the United States is employing similar policies.

The S&P 500 has risen for the past six weeks, putting it up 6.5 percent so far this year, while the Dow is about 1 percent away from its all-time closing record of 14,164.53, reached in October 2007.

STATE OF THE UNION

Investors will be listening to Obama's speech for any clues on a deal with Republicans to avert automatic spending cuts due to take effect March 1. The tone of the speech will also be scrutinized, with any sign of compromise likely to be warmly received.

The euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.3455 after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said there is no such thing as a currency war and that Spain was on the right track toward economic recovery.

Oil prices rose after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said world oil demand would grow more quickly than expected in 2013 and OPEC raised its outlook for the amount of crude it will need to pump this year.

Brent oil rose 53 cents to settle at $118.66 a barrel and U.S. crude was up 48 cents to settle at $97.51 a barrel.

Spot gold clawed back from its lowest in over a month and was last at $1,651 an ounce.

Financial markets showed a muted reaction to news that North Korea conducted a nuclear test and said it would never bow to U.N. resolutions.